The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbine engines, and more specifically, to systems and methods for protecting components in gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines are used in a wide variety of applications, such as power generation, aircraft, and various machinery. Gas turbine engines generally combust a fuel with an oxidant (e.g., air) in a combustor section to generate hot combustion products, which then drive one or more turbine stages of a turbine section. In turn, the turbine section drives one or more compressor stages of a compressor section, thereby compressing oxidant for intake into the combustor section along with the fuel. Again, the fuel and oxidant mix in the combustor section, and then combust to produce the hot combustion products. Unfortunately, certain components of the combustor section and an exhaust section are exposed to high temperatures, which can result in thermal expansion, stress, and/or wear on the components. The exhaust gas can also leak into certain cavities of the combustor section and/or the exhaust section, where the components may have a lower resistance to the high temperature exhaust gas. Furthermore, gas turbine engines typically consume a vast amount of air as the oxidant, and output a considerable amount of exhaust gas into the atmosphere. In other words, the exhaust gas is typically wasted as a byproduct of the gas turbine operation.